Category Archives: Beer Advent Calendar

Today’s beer pick comes from the Engel Brewery (Biermanufaktur Engel) in Germany and is named for the German word for Christmas, Weihnachten: Engel Weihnachtsbier. Interestingly enough, I cannot find much information about this beer online (on the ratings sites, for instance), but this is a 5.5% winter lager (“festival beer”) their English page describes as: Strong flavour with markedly malty body, pleasant sweet touch with well integrated bitter, with clear, softly lingering malty character, a strong … Continue reading →

Comments Off on Advent Beer Calendar 2014: Day 18: Thiriez Bière De Noël

Today’s Advent pick comes from France, from Brasserie Thiriez located in the town of Esquelbecq, north near the Belgian border. Thiriez was founded in 1996 and is “situated on the grounds that formerly housed the Poitevin farm brewery, which was active and served the local area until 1945″ (according to Wikipedia). Each year they brew their Christmas ale—Bière De Noël, brewed to 5.8% abv and which may be in the tradition of a stronger brown … Continue reading →

Maritime Pacific Brewing Company opened in 1990 in Seattle, Washington’s Ballard district, adopting a seafaring theme as a salute to Seattle’s maritime history. In 1997 they opened the Jolly Roger Taproom named, as they say, “in honor of our most popular holiday brew”: Jolly Roger Christmas Ale. Appropriately the taproom is decked out in pirate flair; as for the beer: The most eagerly anticipated of all our seasonals, Jolly is a truly original holiday brew … Continue reading →

Today is the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration and to commemorate the holiday I selected a beer from Shmaltz Brewing, known for their He’Brew line of beers: Hanukkah, Chanukah: Pass The Beer. It’s a dark American strong ale, brewed with eight malts and eight hops to (you guessed it) 8% abv. After 18 years of Shmaltz (and over 2000 years of Hanukkah tradition), we thought it was finally time to release a beer specifically to celebrate … Continue reading →

Today’s beer Advent pick comes from Detroit and the Atwater Brewery. Atwater got its start in 1997 and each year brews a Winter Bock seasonal; this year however they also released their Lebkuchen Christmas Ale (with a label design reminiscent of an ugly Christmas sweater). Lebkuchen is brewed to 6.5% abv with Maris Otter malt and spiced, and is inspired by the German Christmas treat Lebkuchen (think of it as similar to fruitcake). Here’s a … Continue reading →